The hypothesis that a structured, sequenced, approach to mathematics learning, based on the application of learnt facts, decreases mathematics anxiety and increases mathematics achievement is tested. A literature study and an empirical investigation were conducted with respect to the relationships between maths anxiety, maths achievement and teaching methods. A qualitative research design which focussed on the cross-case analysis of different case studies was used. The qualitative case study involves multiple methods such as interviews, observations and a pretest, posttest design. It analyses and compares the effects of the Kuman method, used as the intervention programme, on maths anxiety and maths achievement of an experimental group and a control group. The results of this research indicate that learners on the intervention programme who showed a decrease in anxiety, showed an increase in achievement. This has implications for the teaching methods used in South Africa. / Teacher Education / M. Ed. (Specialisation in Guidance and Counselling)

Specialundervisning och nivågruppering i matematik har inte så stor effekt (Bentley & Bentley, 2011; Giota & Emanuelsson, 2011) och vår skollag (2010:800) gör gällande att undervisningen ska ske inom klassens ram. Med detta som utgångspunkt designades denna studie. Studien genomfördes med 21 elever i år två under nitton lektioner. Syftet var att se om intensivundervisning med hjälp av strukturerad undervisning kan ge effekt på elevernas automatisering av additions och subtraktionstabellerna inom talområde 0-20. Studien genomfördes som en experimentell design med fältexperiment och metoderna i studien var deltagande observation, fältanteckningar och diagnoser.  Observationerna och fältanteckningarna visar ett exempel på hur strukturerad intensivundervisning kan planeras och diagnosernas resultat indikerar på att strukturerad intensivundervisning i aritmetik med ett inkluderande perspektiv har positiv effekt på elevernas automatisering. / Special education and abilitygrouping in mathematics have not shown a great effect (Bentley & Bentley, 2011; Giota & Emanuelsson, 2011) and our Education Act (2010:800) argues that students should be taught in the frame of the class. The study was based on this knowledge, which was conducted with 21 students in their second year for nineteen lessons. The aim was to see if intensive teaching has any effect on students´ procedural fluency of counting addition and subtraction within the numberrange 0-20. The study was conducted as an experimental design of fieldexperiments and the methods in the study were participant observation, fieldnotes and diagnoses. The observation and the fieldnotes show an example of how structured intensive teaching can be planned and the results of the diagnoses indicate that structured intensive teaching in aritmetic in an inclusive perspective has a positive effect on students´ procedural fluency.

The purpose of master work “Parental attitude to the structured teaching method in autistic 3 to 7-year-old children” was to explore the role of the family psychological state to the teaching process (parental attitude to child, acceptance of the autistic child by the family, role of the family crisis), factors which could influence child’s nurturing processes and basic problems of the applying of structured teaching for the early age children in the family. Study object: structured teaching method in autistic 3 to 7-year-old children. Study purpose: to explore parental attitude to the autistic child and to the structured teaching method. Study objectives: to group autistic children according to the level of the severity of autism symptoms; to reveal demographical characteristics of the families of autistic children, to evaluate parental attitude to autistic child and factors which influence this attitude; to evaluate parental attitude to the structured teaching method. Participants of the study were autistic children and their families from all over Lithuania, who have undergone treatment at the Unit of Early rehabilitation of the Centre for Child Development in Vilnius from September 2004 to March 2005. Forty children have been evaluated using The Children Autism Rating Scale and their parents have been interviewed about applying of the structured teaching method at home and basic problems of the applying. Qualitative data of the study revealed that the most... [to full text]

The hypothesis that a structured, sequenced, approach to mathematics learning, based on the application of learnt facts, decreases mathematics anxiety and increases mathematics achievement is tested. A literature study and an empirical investigation were conducted with respect to the relationships between maths anxiety, maths achievement and teaching methods. A qualitative research design which focussed on the cross-case analysis of different case studies was used. The qualitative case study involves multiple methods such as interviews, observations and a pretest, posttest design. It analyses and compares the effects of the Kuman method, used as the intervention programme, on maths anxiety and maths achievement of an experimental group and a control group. The results of this research indicate that learners on the intervention programme who showed a decrease in anxiety, showed an increase in achievement. This has implications for the teaching methods used in South Africa. / Teacher Education / M. Ed. (Specialisation in Guidance and Counselling)

Title: Specifics of swimming teaching children with autism spectrum disorder. Objectives: Application of the structured learning by the concept of common preparatory and basic swimming lessons for children with autism spectrum disorder. Presentation and evaluation of nine case studies and subsequent implementation of policy for teaching swimming to children with autism spectrum disorder. Methods: Analysis of specialized literature, case studies, surveys, interviews, scaling observation and statistics method. Results of the work: Methods of the structured learning support and facilitate the implementation of standard swimming lessons for children with autism spectrum disorder. The case studies confirm the effectiveness of our taught realized swimming lessons. The principles for swimming education of children with autism spectrum disorder are designed based on the above-mentioned examples of swimming lessons. Keywords: Autism Spectrum Disorders, structured teaching swimming lessons

The thesis presents structured teaching and its use in classes where children with autism spectrum disorder are educated. The research focuses on how teachers apply the principles of structured learning in the education of individual pupils. Our intention is to link research to practice. We have chosen a qualitative survey to go into the depth of the chosen issue. We start from analyzes of interviews with pedagogical staff. We want to clarify what are the advantages and disadvantages of this method. We are interested in why pedagogical staff recommend structured learning for children with ASDs to teachers, assistants and parents. We want to pass on the research experience to other teachers for further use in their daily practice. KEYWORDS Autism spectrum disorder, structured teaching, individual approach, education, classroom

Studien syftar till att ge ett kunskapsbidrag kring specialpedagogers erfarenheter av tydliggörande pedagogik i grundskola och gymnasium. Vi använde kvalitativ intervjumetod med tematisk analys som metodansats. I vår studie genomförde vi semistrukturerade intervjuer med åtta specialpedagoger som utifrån sina roller beskrev hur de arbetar med tydliggörande pedagogik på individ-, grupp- och organisationsnivå samt vilka utmaningar, hinder och möjligheter de erfarit i det arbetet. I resultatet framkom att specialpedagogernas beskrivningar av innebörden av tydliggörande pedagogik varierar, från exempelvis hjälpmedel och arbetssätt till lektionsdesign, enhetlig struktur och förhållningssätt. Informanterna såg tydliggörande pedagogik som en självklar del av undervisningen för att möta elevernas behov, att det är bra för alla, men särskilt viktigt för elever med exempelvis neuropsykiatrisk funktionsnedsättning. Informanterna poängterade att arbetet med tydliggörande pedagogik handlar om ett förändringsarbete, ett arbete som ofta drivs av specialpedagoger. Detta förändringsarbete kan utgöra en utmaning då det kräver att all personal arbetar tillsammans och stöttar varandra, men även att skolledningen är positivt inställd och delaktig i arbetet. Resultaten diskuteras utifrån ett sociokulturellt perspektiv där begrepp som kommunikation, medierande resurser och proximal utvecklingszon är centrala. Vi drar slutsatsen att tydliggörande pedagogik kan ses som en medierande resurs som bidrar till att lärare lättare kan utmana elevernas proxiamala utvecklingszon.

This thesis investigates a practice at an upper secondary school in Sweden. The starting point is the teachers’ questions concerning the possibilities of supporting the development of the students’ reading abilities through texts that are long, alphabetical and printed, and in this study, non-fictional. The thesis suggests that by applying a multimodal and multiliteral approach the possibilities are widened. The purpose of the study is to investigate how teachers handle the challenge of teaching using lengthy alphabetical printed texts in the text realities of today, and to describe such teaching through a multimodal framework. Data was collected through ethnographical methods and includes information gathered in interviews with three teachers, observations of lessons, and group discussions on texts. The data also include the texts used in the history and social science classes. Three analyses were made. Firstly, the practical theory of the teachers was analysed using the discourse analytical tool suggested by Roz Ivanic. She presents two dynamic models, one showing four layers of language and one providing a framework of six discourses for understanding the layer in focus. The models were used in this study to examine each of the teachers’ approaches to reading, reading development, and learning as a whole. In the first analysis the teachers are shown to be focusing on different discourses but they all result in explicit, structured teaching. In the second analysis, the texts used in the history and social science classes are categorised and discussed from a multimodal point of view, and the questions used to influence the students’ reading strategies are examined in terms of what kind of meaning-making they promote. The third analysis focuses on the students’ group discussions, with and without the teacher. The discussions are described through a didactic designing model as a learning sequence. The results show that the teachers’ approach offers possibilities for working with lengthy alphabetical printed texts: in applying a multimodal view of text the teachers try to incorporate the text worlds of today. Through structured teaching they aim to develop the students’ skills in meaning-making processes in a multimodal world, which includes designing through texts that are alphabetical and printed. By using modelling in text conversations the teacher is pointing out reading paths to the students, guiding them through the questions. By using the field of multimodality in describing what is taking place in the study the thesis points to possibilities when the fields of didactics and multimodal research come closer together. It is suggested that by putting reading into a multimodal perspective it is possible to empower the students’ design authority and by using a didactic approach to other texts multimodal meaning-making is put in a broader perspective.

This thesis investigates a practice at an upper secondary school in Sweden. The starting point is the teachers’ questions concerning the possibilities of supporting the development of the students’ reading abilities through texts that are long, alphabetical and printed, and in this study, non-fictional. The thesis suggests that by applying a multimodal and multiliteral approach the possibilities are widened. The purpose of the study is to investigate how teachers handle the challenge of teaching using lengthy alphabetical printed texts in the text realities of today, and to describe such teaching through a multimodal framework. Data was collected through ethnographical methods and includes information gathered in interviews with three teachers, observations of lessons, and group discussions on texts. The data also include the texts used in the history and social science classes. Three analyses were made. Firstly, the practical theory of the teachers was analysed using the discourse analytical tool suggested by Roz Ivanic. She presents two dynamic models, one showing four layers of language and one providing a framework of six discourses for understanding the layer in focus. The models were used in this study to examine each of the teachers’ approaches to reading, reading development, and learning as a whole. In the first analysis the teachers are shown to be focusing on different discourses but they all result in explicit, structured teaching. In the second analysis, the texts used in the history and social science classes are categorised and discussed from a multimodal point of view, and the questions used to influence the students’ reading strategies are examined in terms of what kind of meaning-making they promote. The third analysis focuses on the students’ group discussions, with and without the teacher. The discussions are described through a didactic designing model as a learning sequence. The results show that the teachers’ approach offers possibilities for working with lengthy alphabetical printed texts: in applying a multimodal view of text the teachers try to incorporate the text worlds of today. Through structured teaching they aim to develop the students’ skills in meaning-making processes in a multimodal world, which includes designing through texts that are alphabetical and printed. By using modelling in text conversations the teacher is pointing out reading paths to the students, guiding them through the questions. By using the field of multimodality in describing what is taking place in the study the thesis points to possibilities when the fields of didactics and multimodal research come closer together. It is suggested that by putting reading into a multimodal perspective it is possible to empower the students’ design authority and by using a didactic approach to other texts multimodal meaning-making is put in a broader perspective.

Many educators are experiencing challenges in educating autistic learners, with the media reporting incidents of autistic learners being denied access to their local schools. This case study investigated how effective the TEACCH (Treatment and Education of Autistic and Communication Handicapped Children) model is, in helping autistic learners to learn in an inclusive environment. The data collection instrumentsused included a literature review, questionnaires, interviews and artefacts. The collected data were analysed statistically, and descriptively. It seems as if there is perception that autism is increasing. Teachers need to be taught about full support mechanisms to deal with the challenges of teaching autistic learners. The research revealed that teachers were struggling to implement the TEACCH program owing to a lack of support programs for teachers, as well as a lack of continued use by other teachers. It was revealed that the teachers felt that for intervention programs to be successful, autistic learners should learn separately. / Inclusive Education / M. Ed. (Inclusive Education)